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Showing results for fascinating. Search instead for fascinating variants.
Synonyms

fascinating

American  
[fas-uh-ney-ting] / ˈfæs əˌneɪ tɪŋ /

adjective

  1. of great interest or attraction; enchanting; charming; captivating.

    a fascinating story;

    fascinating jewelry.
fascinating British  
/ ˈfæsɪˌneɪtɪŋ /

adjective

  1. arousing great interest

  2. enchanting or alluring

    a fascinating woman
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • fascinatingly adverb
  • half-fascinating adjective
  • half-fascinatingly adverb
  • quasi-fascinating adjective
  • quasi-fascinatingly adverb
  • unfascinating adjective

Etymology

Origin of fascinating

First recorded in 1640–50; fascinat(e) + -ing 2

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Walsh said India's aviation sector had been "fascinating to watch in recent years", pointing to strong growth and improving connectivity.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

Humira is just one example, but it’s a fascinating case study for understanding how healthcare costs have gotten so horribly out of control and what’s needed to fix it.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

Captive in bucolic panopticons, their lives are at once aesthetically alluring, depressingly regressive and anthropologically fascinating.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026

Made in collaboration with Aitor Mendilibar, the fascinating video imagines what black Shaker worship could be.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

There were always more fascinating things to watch and record, more people to help write everything down.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.